Thursday, November 04, 2004

For me, one of the most annoying sound bites of the 2000 presidential campaign came from a speech by Democratic VP candidate Joe Lieberman. Lieberman made frequent references to God, and even told one audience that "George Washington warned us never to `indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion."

I completely disagree.

As a cartoonist for a gay Massachusetts newspaper, I figure I'm already headed for an internment camp in this brave new America, so I might as well go whole hog and admit that I'm what Dubya would call "a person of faith". Call me an atheist, or call me an agnostic, but no, I don't pray, and no, religion and spirituality are just not significant parts of my life and no, there's nothing wrong with me. I'm not sorry about it, and I don't think it makes me a less moral or ethical person in the least.

Now I deeply respect other people's religious and spiritual beliefs, and I greatly admire many of the religious leaders who have played such pivotal roles in liberation movements--in fighting against slavery, poverty and racism. I think the United States needs to be a safe place for people to practice a diversity of faiths. But it also needs to be a safe place to be a person of no religious faith at all, and a place where fundamentalist religious ideology is not allowed to trump civil rights and constiutional freedoms. Anyone remember the separation of church and state?

Personally, I consider the following to be deeply immoral (i.e. wrong):

Spending billions to kill tens of thousands of civilians in an unjust war... spending billions on bombs that could be spent on health care, education, fighting AIDS, fighting hunger, and so on...

Rounding up immigrants on minor visa violations, detaining them for days, months, and years without charging them with anything and without allowing them to see their families or a lawyer... and finally deporting them

Blocking global access to life-saving information about AIDS prevention and contraception in the name of morality, blocking access to the condoms that could save lives and help stem the pandemic (again in the name of morality, always in the name of morality), blocking access to cheap generic AIDS drugs under the pretense of concerns about "safety", and so on...

Allowing the interests of corporate polluters to take priority over the future of the planet and all the living things on it, despite the overwhelming scientific consensus on the dangers of global warming. We all have to breathe, and we would all like to live on dry land, thank you very much. And so on.

Working to ensure that billionaires pay less taxes instead of working to ensure that everyone in America has access to healthcare and housing, ensuring that no child goes hungry, that every worker makes a living wage, and so on.

Executions, particularly juvenile executions.

Stirring up anti-gay hatred and bigotry.

Did I mention LYING?

I could go on, of course. And I'm sure my regular readers can think of plenty more to add to this list.

As for the so-called "moral values" of Bush's anti-gay religious base, I'm curious:

What is right and good about preventing a loving couple from visiting each other in the hospital, from inheriting property from one another, from adopting children, from publicly proclaiming and sanctioning their love for one another? (HOW DOES THAT HURT ANYONE ELSE?)

What is right and good about believing that anyone who doesn't believe the same things you do is bound for hell?

What is right and good about turning your child out on the street or refusing to speak to your brother or sister because he or she is gay?

That's all for now. And as the Daily Show noted earlier this evening, this is your LAST CHANCE to commit same-sex sodomy or go to the library, so you better hop to it.